Ok so I lied. You know how I said last chapter that there was only going to be two more? Well now there will be two more after this chapter, sorry. I decided to add one more at the last second :)

"Come on John," Sherlock said softly after what he considered to be an appropriate amount of time. "We need to get Lestrade and find a way out of here."

John nodded numbly; he knew it was time to move on. "Where is he?" He asked, thankful for the change of subject.

"Over here," Sherlock responded as he walked towards the wooden crate that he had carefully deposited the unfortunate detective inspector behind. "He was clever enough to get kicked in the head on the way in."

John nodded and kneeled down beside his unconscious friend and checked his pulse.

While John was inspecting Lestrade, Sherlock started pacing the room and thinking of a way out. "Mycroft are you still there?" He asked into his earpiece. A surge of static was his only response; they must have interrupted the feed.

"Right, ok then. We are just going to have to risk it." He said.

"Risk what?"

"I can see no other way out of this situation so grab Lestrade and let's go."

"Sherlock hold on," John said getting up and grabbing the detective's arm to prevent him from walking away. "Where are we going?"

Sherlock turned to face him, "Really? I'm surprised you didn't already figure it out." He said sarcastically, "We are going in the vents."

"Ouch! Geez this is tight." John exclaimed as he managed to hit his head for the fifth time.

"John shut up! They probably already know we're in here but we should try to avoid letting them know exactly where we are." Sherlock snapped back from up ahead.

"Okay okay sorry," John whispered back, rolling his eyes. "Why am I the one that had to drag Lestrade along though?"

"Because I needed to go first so I can try to navigate this ventilation system. I think the chances of me being able to find a way out are much higher than yours don't you think?" Sherlock said mockingly.

John's only response was another roll of his eyes and a soft grunt as he pulled his unconscious friend along behind him. They came up on another crossroad and Sherlock suddenly stopped crawling and laid flat on the floor of the shaft.

"Sherlock what-"

"Shhhh!"

John shut up, clenched his jaw, and waited for him to explain. After a moment of tense silence Sherlock slowly resumed his former position on his hands and knees and took a left.

"Sherlock-" John whispered after him as he tried to pull Lestrade as quickly as he could along the narrow passage way, "Sherlock wait!"

When he finally managed to pull the limp body around the tight corner he found, to his surprise, an open hatch in the bottom of the shaft just a few feet away. "Dammit Sherlock where did you go this time?" He whispered to himself as he slowly made his way over to the opening.

He reached the hole and cautiously looked over the edge, it was pitch black. He couldn't even make out any kind of shapes, just seemingly impenetrable darkness.

"Sherlock?" He whispered cautiously into the gloom.

"I'm here John," came the answer after a few seconds. "Drop Lestrade down to me but be as quiet as you can."

John turned halfway around and pulled Lestrade along beside him. These vents might not be tall but thank God they are wide, he thought as he pulled the inspector over to the hatch as quietly as he could.

"Alright he's right here, are you ready to catch?" John whispered, hoping it wasn't too far of a drop.

"Yes I'm right below you. Lower him down." Sherlock whispered up.

John began to lower him down through the hole, feet first, and with a word from Sherlock he let him drop the rest of the way. After a second he heard a soft grunt and no crash so he assumed Sherlock had caught him and they were both safe.

"Ok John, your turn." Sherlock's disembodied voice floated up to him from below. Without a moment's hesitation he swung his legs over the edge and slipped off with complete confidence that Sherlock would not let him hit the ground. John fell through open air for less than a second before strong arms wrapped around his chest under his arms and broke his fall. Sherlock let out a soft grunt and John's feet hit the floor with a thud. John cringed as he heard the sound echo in the dark room they were standing in and nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a cough and a rustle emanating less than two feet away from him to his right.

"Wha-"

Sherlock slapped his hand over his mouth and stood stock still. John shut up immediately and nodded his head to convey his compliance. The hand was cautiously removed from his mouth and Sherlock grabbed his hand.

"I've got Lestrade, follow me and be quiet." He whispered as he pulled John along behind him. After a moment of clumsily stumbling around the dark room John stopped and reached inside his pocket.

"This is ridiculous, I can't see a bloody thing." He stated with frustration as he pulled out his flashlight and turned it on.

"No John don't!" Sherlock whispered urgently but it was too late, the room was flooded with a white light to reveal several bunks pressed close to the walls with guards lying on top of them, fast asleep.

John stood in shock as Sherlock snatched the flashlight out of his hand and switched it off. They waited tensely to see if the light had disturbed any of the sleeping men and when all they heard was a few soft coughs and a little rustling they let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"The barracks?! You lead us into the barracks?!" John hissed softly to Sherlock as he continued to pull him along.

"Yes. This is the last place they will come looking for us so we should be momentarily safe if you don't pull another stunt like that one." He whispered back.

"But I thought we were trying to get out of this place!"

"We are! Think John, what do most barracks have?"

John shrugged, "I don't know, a bathroom?"

"No John, an emergency exit. With so many people stuffed into one room there would have to be an emergency exit in case of a fire. We know that this building used to be a factory of some kind so they would need to put one in for liability reasons if nothing else." Sherlock explained in hushed whispers. "Now be quiet, we don't want to wake anyone up."

They continued their slow search for the exit and after what seemed like an eternity they finally bumped up against the far wall of the room.

"Look, Sherlock, I can see one huge problem with this plan." John whispered as they began to work their way along the wall in search of the door.

"Oh? And what is that?"

"Well when we finally do find this door won't the fire alarm go off when we open it?"

"Most likely yes. That is exactly what I am hoping happens. Of course they might have disabled it but let's hope that's not the case."

"But," John started, confused, "that will just wake them all up."

"Yes but what do fire alarms do besides make lots if noise? Really John you have gotten slow while I was away." He replied with a hint of disappointment in his mocking tone.

"Ah," John whispered, finally understanding the detective's reasoning. "The fire alarm will automatically call the police."

"Exactly. They will crowd around this building fast. I believe that our friends here will realize this and try to get out as quickly as possible, leaving us alone." Sherlock whispered back, "Now do please shut up. I'm trying to find the door."

Just as he finished saying that Sherlock's slim fingers brushed up against the cold smooth surface of a doorknob. He squeezed John's hand to let him know he had found it and in one fluid motion turned the knob and ripped the door open.

Sirens blared and many of the sleeping guards bloated upright so fast those heads hit either the ceiling or the bunk above them. But by that time Sherlock, John, and the unconscious Lestrade had already made it out the door and were running as fast as their injured legs would allow.

John crouched, his leg throbbing, behind the think line of trees. Sherlock sat next to him, panting. It hadn't been easy but they had somehow managed to get away without being followed.

"I have to admit," John panted, "that plan of yours worked like a charm."

"Of course it did," Sherlock responded, "what else did you expect? My plans always work!"

"Yeah right, I know your plans can get pretty elaborate and crazy but I don't think getting captured when you first came to rescue me was part of some brilliant scheme." He said mockingly.

"Of course it was, I had the whole situation under control!" Sherlock responded with mock exasperation.

John just shook his head and laughed and Sherlock soon joined in.

"You haven't changed a bit." John said as soon as he was able to stop chuckling and had gotten his breath back. He looked up at Sherlock with a sad smile on his face and saw the same expression mirrored on his. John didn't know what made him do it, maybe it was just the relief of getting out alive, but he reached up and pulled Sherlock into a hug. He had come for him and he had saved him.

John felt Sherlock stiffen in surprise and John finally seemed realized who it was he had just embraced. Feeling foolish he started to pull back in embarrassment when he felt the detective's long slim arms wrap around him and pull him close.

"You're alright. Oh God you're alright," Sherlock mumbled into John's shoulder. "I didn't think- I wasn't sure- thank God you're alright."

"I'm fine, thanks to you." John mumbled back. It was time to say it, he needed to say it. "Sherlock," He began nervously, "I love you."

There, it was done, he had said it. Now he only hoped that Sherlock would react in kind. There was a moment of stunned silence from the consulting detective and John began to worry that he had made a mistake. "Sherlock I didn't-"

"John, I love you too." Sherlock said softly.

Relief. John closed his eyes and buried his face into Sherlock's shoulder. Neither of them could say how long they sat there in their silent embrace, but soon, too soon, they heard the screech of tires and the sound of blaring sirens coming from the road.

John's leg burned like fire as he and Sherlock stood, side by side, as a police officer took Lestrade away on a stretcher. He was bruised, scraped, cut, and beat up all around but for the moment he felt fine, Sherlock was here next to him and they were safe, that was all that mattered.

In fact he would go so far as to even say he was happy. Actually he was more than happy, he was ecstatic, as he felt Sherlock's long slim fingers interlock with his. John looked up at Sherlock with joy written on every inch of his face. "I love you." He whispered to him. It felt so good to say it.

"I love you too, John. I always have and I always will." Sherlock whispered back as he began to lean in closer to his doctor.

John smiled and went up on his tiptoes, why did he have to be so freaking tall? All thoughts vanished from his mind, however, when he finally pressed his lips to Sherlock's. The contact sent electricity through his veins, he felt so alive. He wrapped his arms around Sherlock's neck and he felt Sherlock slip his around his waist. Another jolt of electricity surged through him but this time it was much stronger. So strong in fact that it caused him to gasp and pull away slightly from Sherlock's warm embrace. The taller looked down at him with concern.

"Are you ok John? You look pale. Was that too much?"

The worry and nervousness that Sherlock was expressing about if he was moving too fast was so absurd and out of character for him that it caused John to explode into a fit of giggles.

"No you're fine, Sherlock." He managed to say through his laugher. "I'm perfectly alright."

Sherlock smiled at that and bent down to kiss him again right as another surge rushed through John's nerves. He let out a yell of pain and slumped forward into Sherlock's comforting arms.

"John! John what's wrong?!"

"I don't-" he gasped "I don't know." It felt like his whole body was being burned from the inside out. His blood was replaced with a raging fire and his vision was going black. Sherlock gripped his wrist and his eyes widened when he felt his pulse racing.

"Doctor! Do we have any doctors here? We need a medic!" Sherlock screamed at the police force around him. "John, John hold on. Just hold on you are going to be ok."

"What- AHHHH!" He screamed as one last surge, worse than all the others before combined ripped through him. The last thing he saw was Sherlock's panicked face when his vision went white.

What?! That wasn't supposed to happen!

The next chapter is coming soon, I wont make you wait too long with this cliffhanger ;)